Foreign navies help cut Somali pirate attacks: watchdog

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) - Somali pirate attacks have fallen in the past four months year-on-year helped by the presence of foreign navies and more effective deterrence measures by ships, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Wednesday.

But it said Somali pirate attacks continued and gunmen were firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades indiscriminately to intimidate ship captains into stopping.

"Pirates are now more desperate to hijack ships," the IMB said in its latest quarterly report.

Somali pirate gangs have caused havoc in the waterways linking Europe with Asia this year and have made millions of dollars in ransom payments.

Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based IMB, told a piracy conference there were 43 attacks and 6 hijackings involving Somali pirates from June to October, down from 57 attacks on ships and 23 hijackings in the same period in 2008.

In the second quarter of 2009, which was the peak, there were 140 attacks and 23 hijackings.

The monsoon season, which ended in September, curbed pirate attacks as high seas prevented gangs from using small skiffs.

Mukundan said navies had been proactive in the Gulf of Aden during the period. "It is the presence of the navies which have played a very key role in avoiding these attacks," he said. "I think it is fair to say they have been very successful.